Mission Thunderbolt
Below I include my much improved list of hints for Mission Thunderbolt.
Please do not read this if you don't want spoilers. Note that this edition
contains spoilers from a board discussion with the author! SPOILERS!
My thanks go to all the people who posted this information. I did not credit
each person since there were so many and it would take up space. Some of the
hints were added by me.
Sterling
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| | Mission Thunderbolt I: Version 5/18/93 | |
| | | |
| | A compilation of hints, tips, and techniques from many users | |
| | posts to news groups. | |
| | | |
|___| Please send any hints or corrections to: jdsb@ee.egr.duke.edu |___|
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General Information
Unanswered questions
Monsters
Objects - Devices
Objects - Armor
Objects - Weapons
Objects - Pills
Objects - Things
The Player
Facilities
Message Meanings
Favorite Hacks
General Hints
Cheats
Using Less Disk Space
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NOTE: All hints presented here are from players experiences. Therefore they
are NOT guaranteed in any way shape or form. That player may have lied,
been mistaken, or the information may not have been correctly
transcribed. I take no responsibility if your player is killed.
NOTICE! NOTE! ATTENTION: Any reference to 'I' in ALL of the following text
does NOT mean Mr. Babcock. These notes were collected from many posts.
Each 'I' refers to a different person and as such represents the advice of
many different people. I don't remember who contributed what.
> What is Mission Thunderbolt? A few reviews:
Mission T-bolt is a game similar in play to the classic UNIX game NetHack.
Instead of NetHack's character-graphic interface, Mission Thunderbolt has
a fairly nice graphic interface. It's no 3-D shoot-em-up, but rather a
turn-by-turn sci-fi role-playing/adventure game.
The graphics are not spectacular but are very nice and effective. Actually
they fit the game rather well. The sounds are excellent (even if they aren't
async). The game is very playable, with some of the commands being identical
to those in NetHack. The game world is _huge_, as are the variety of weapons,
armor, and creatures you encounter along the way. The game is very addictive-
and you can play it for around 2 hrs. a day for 3 weeks and not finish solving
it. Also, each time you play a new character, a different world is generated.
The game also has a great sense of humor, with creatures named things like
icky lumps, two-headed radioactive swamp creatures, and giant tentacular
horrors. I highly recommend it.
One thing I really like about the game is the fact that your movement is not
a race against time. Each move is a unit of time, so if the phone rings I can
leave the game without fear of something killing me.
> What version is available now?
Mission Thunderbolt is up to version 1.0.6. However, unless you have problems
with the copy protection not working, you probably only "need" to get 1.0.3
(1.0.1 and 1.0.2 fixed game problems).
Version:1.0 - RELEASE VERSION
1.0.1 - Fixed a Vending Machine problem
1.0.2 - Fixed a Small Generator problem
1.0.3 - Consolidated copy protection information to a single window
1.0.4 - Fixed a creature name bestowing problem
1.0.5 - Automatic correction of inconsistent data in earlier versions
1.0.6 - Fixed installation window centering for 9" screens
Menu bar now disabled while saving character
Added "Request replay" preference to simplify game relaunch
> I hear rumor of a sequel to Mission: Thunderbolt!
Yes, this is true! From the New Mac Games List 4/2/93:
Mission: ?? Winter 1993 (FR) The sequel to Mission: Thunderbolt
(Casady&Greene)
There is a detailed discussion with the MTB author in Inside Mac Games, May,
1993 issue (this is a software magazine available on sumex).
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=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-= Unanswered questions -=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-
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> Anybody found monsters that can be befriended by tossing them items OTHER
than the dogs, snagglepi, and troglodytes?
> What to the "sweet" and "sour" pills do?
> How can towels be used to wipe off armor/paint?
> If you shoot a cybercop with a paint pellet, why doesn't it become visible?
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=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-= Monsters -=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-
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> FRIENDS: Making friends
o You have to know what the monster wants before you can give it to him.
I only know of a couple beasts that can be tamed by gifts.
The snagglepus likes cookies and the dogs like bones.
o If you have enough charisma, you can befriend troglodytes with cookies.
o Use Put/Toss into adjacent location to give them the item.
o The best way to make friends is to use a little electrical stimulation.
The stimmer is a short range weapon which sometimes requires several
applications to change a monster into a friend, sometimes whacking them
upside the head before stimming helps.
> STIMMERS: What animals are susceptible to stimmers?
o Becomes friendly: Giant Tentacular Horrors, Tentacular Horrors, Snagglepus,
Wild dogs, fangwings (a wonderful "friend" to have!)
o docile: floating eye, radioactive swamp monsters?, flutterbangs?
o Not: robots
> ICKY LUMPS - reproduction
o They will reproduce when you get near, even when you are near in a region
past where they are. They don't multiply if you're not close to them.
o If an infestation is only on part of a region, and you don't have the tools
to destroy them, use holocubes or a door (they can't open them) to close
them off.
o Lumps *will* fall through holes and down stairs and step on teleport
traps (including the kind that teleport you to other regions), so it's
important to get rid of infestations that are near any of these things.
o Never rest near lumps. Never rest in another region near the lumps.
> ICKY LUMPS - killing with weapons
o They are easy to kill and carry money.
o Icky Lumps are best killed from a distance, with a laser rifle.
o Close up work requires good weapons (antique sword or vibra knife) and
good armor (Mark X Forcefield Pack plus Macro metal Armor). In a pinch,
properly placed land mines and grenades can help out somewhat. Advice:
leave 'em alone until you get good weapons/armor.
o Find a vibra-knife possible. They kill lumps better than a macro-metal knife.
o Failing a vibra-knife, get lot's and lot's of large powercells,
a laser rifle and start blasting the little lumps to oblivion.
BTW - the vending machines do not have an unlimited supply of powercells.
Be sure to go to that region with full hit points and NEVER, NEVER
rest in the same region as the lumps. That seems to cause them to
multiple rapidly. Always leave the region and rest in a region that
has no lumps in it.
o Poison gas cannisters will kill quite a few, but it has a limited range.
o You can also use a cameleon circuit if you can find one. It makes you
invisible to most monsters, including lumps. They don't multiply or
attack you while you're invisible (well, they attack by accident every
once in a while). The c.c. is like a forcepack - requires charges.
> ICKY LUMPS - killing with friends
o Befriend a tentacular horror and let if follow you to the icky lumps.
Once there, the 'lil horror will do most of the work for you.
o Even better, befriend a Giant Tentacular Horror who will clean things
up in short order.
o Friends are always good. The best anti-lump technique is to get a
"friend" with a big "activation radius" (the distance from you that a
friendly monster will consider an unfriendly monster to be a threat,
and go after it), like a snagglepuss, and go to the lump region.
Get close enough to the lumps so that the snagglepuss will go kill them,
but far enough away so that the lumps don't multiply. This makes very
quick work of lump infestations.
> ICKY LUMP FARMING: What is "Icky Lump Farming"?
o Once you have sufficiently powerful weaponry and protective gear, it
can become quite lucrative to "farm" lumps, rather than killing them
off. Let 'em grow, reduce their numbers back down to something
manageable, and then gather the coinage they've dropped along the way.
> BUG EYED MONSTERS: Bug eyed monsters - What do these guys want?
o Watch out for them -- if they shake your hand, you can lose dexterity.
o In my experience, these guys are beyond redemption. They shake you until
they injure you or cause you to drop something that either goes off (like
an activated grenade/canister) or gets damaged in some other fashion.
Just say no and blow them away.
o I believe bug-eyed monsters are merely monsters with a special attack.
I don't believe they want anything in particular, though I suppose you
could say they are asking for a good sword through the teeth.
> MOPPETTS: What's a good way to kill off moppetts?
o These things take your inventory and then disappear.
o Personally I like to shoot them with a blaster rifle. :-)
o I found that if I hit it initially with my best weapon, he tickles me and I
drop my weapon, and then I just wail on him with my bare hands until he dies.
He seems less inclined to pop away if I'm bare-fisted and he gets in too many
licks if I spend my turns trying trying to pickup/wield some weapon.
Your mileage may vary depending on your character's characteristics.
> THE SHIMMERING HAZE: What do I do about the shimmering haze?
o Don't touch them, they permanently drain constitution. They follow you!
o Your best hope is to use the "run" command and get to another floor fast,
because you can outrun the things. Best bet, kill them at a distance.
o Kill with a blaster(~3 shots) or blaster rifle(~1 shot).
o Faining a blaster, try to lead it past traps. It will be caught in them and
detained for awhile. A trap that delivers an electric jolt will kill it.
o "friends" can hurt it.
o If you think these guys are bad, wait until you run into a Vampire Mist.
> VAMPIRE MISTS: What does one do about those darned vampire mists?
o These things drain experience points.
o Try using a friendly android, snagglepus, or giant tentacular horror.
o Try using a blaster.
o vampire clouds can be killed with non-light based energy weapons (blaster,
disflorger, disintegrator, but not laser), and friends.
> DREADNOUGHT: Killing a Dreadnaughts?
o Well, it takes quite a bit more than 8 grenades, 1 LAWs, 1 landmine and an
antique sword. Use a lot of landmines, more grenades, and befriend powerful
monsters to lead to the dreadnought. Really, though, I didn't find it worth it
to kill the dreadnought. You may gain a level, but you will use everything up.
Now, I just lead them to regions that I am finished with and lose them there.
o The only way I've ever seen one die was when I used a panic button:
instead of teleporting to region 1, once it gave me 5 friendly 'jaunt
troopers', who demolished the Dreadnought in 3 shots and 2 hits. The
jaunt troopers disappear after something like 50 ticks.
o It's not that tough. First, get an antique sword. These things kick ass!
Second, get a pill of speed. Eat the pill when the dreadnaught is near you.
Then proceed to whale on him. You can hit, then backup, then hit, etc.
o If you can get them, either pills of speed or a time dilator work well.
Befriend TH or GTH (or 3) and lead it to the Dreadnought.
What you want to do is have the TH soften the Dreadnought up a bit.
After the "appropriate" amount of time, take a pill or activate the dilator.
Lob 3 or 4 grenades at Dreadnought. If you have the dilator, you can now go
and whack away at the Dread, preferable with an antique sword.
If you are using pills, take a whack or two and then take a step back.
You will get hit once in a while, but with a reasonable number of HP you
should be able to outlast the Dread. If you are using pills, you may do
better to use a laser rifle instead of the sword. You can get off a shot or
two, take a step back, etc. and stay out of reach.
o Saving beforehand is mandatory; this all takes a little practice.
o Carry two loaded gyrojet scatter guns and grenades. Don't use the
blaster, use the laser rifle. Landmines are good things to have the
Dreadnought run over too.
o Have as many hit points as possible (min 150+ hps, over 200 is better)
Method 1: hand-to-hand combat: Mark X; macrometal armour (battle armour is
better); battle helmet; preferred weapon: vibra knife, and about 20 to 30
healing pills.
Method 2: Jauntbox; laws rockets, laser rifle, blaster rifle; lots of
batteries. Basically a run and shoot tactic with the jauntbox to teleport
you to different positions on the level so the dreadnaught can't catch you.
Method 3: Take whatever friends down that you can find (androids, techs,
bots, etc.) and engage the dreadnaught from a distance (your friends will
break off their attack from time to time to heal, and as long as you are
able to distract the dreadnaught from them while they heal you'll still
have friends left, just make sure that you fire the final shot to kill the
dreadnaught or else you won't get the points).
> TWO-HEADED MUTANT RADIOACTIVE THINGS.
o Don't carry pills near them unless in a CLOSED container.
o VERY VERY painful. It takes about 4 grenades and 30 gyrojets to kill.
o These monsters seem quite vulnerable to laser rifles.
o Grenades and landmines are good, too. Sometimes stimmers work, as well.
o Just stay out of range and attack from distance.
o Don't go into warrens until you have good weapons and a forcefield pack.
> FANGWINGS
o These will poison when you get close and they hide in the dark and
behind doors
o I usually do have something like a gyrojet rifle so I shoot them from far.
> KIDDIE KOMMANDO UNITS: What is the best way to deal with them?
o Shoot them with the air gun.
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> STRANGE DEVICE: How do i figure out what a "Strange Device" is?
o Go to a Library. (I think 100 coins per an item from you bank account).
o Here's what I do when I get a strange device.
1. I inspect it.
2. I try and wear it.
3. I try to charge it.
4. I activate it.
5. If I can't wear it and it will activate, I throw it far away from me.
Usually one of these actions will tell me of what exactly the strange device
is. It's not a perfect routine though, I accidentally broke a chronograph,
when I threw it. Try this at your own risk.
> Sonic Screwdriver -- What and how do you use this thing?
o Charge this up and use it to open any locked thing that you don't have a
keycard for. When prompted to "Open with what?...", select the charged
sonic screwdriver and you'll hear a click. That's the lock being unlocked.
o You use a sonic screwdriver to try and disable "diamond" traps - ie, gravity
wells, etc. Use the screwdriver to 'deactivate' a trap'. Success is _never_
guaranteed, and it is _totally_ random. I have saved games, then tried to
deactivate, and sometimes I will only need 1 try, and others I give up after
4 bad attempts. If you fail to succeed, you get shocks for something like
20-40 points.
> What are stasis bags?
o Things inside closed stasis bags are not subject to "mysterious power drains."
> time dilator
o The time dilator is terrific, but so short lived and non-rechargable as to
make it not worth carrying.
> Chronograph -- What do the numbers mean?
o It's the current time in the game. Since it the "watch" has a stopwatch,
I assume that is needed later. And for the current time, the factory outlet
will sometimes close and give you a time that it will open again.
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> FIX/REPAIR: How do you fix: Armor?
o My friendly (healthy) mech will sometimes repair my battered armor.
I suggest saving before trying since the mech often destroy the armor
in the 'fixing' process.
> FORCE FIELD PACKS: What are Force field packs?
o It improves your armor class. Don't forget to charge it, wear it and
activate it. The packs come in different flavors, offering different levels
of protection. Your AC will increase by an amount comparable to the Mark _
rating. i.e.
Mark I Forcefield Pack < Mark V Forcefield Pack < Mark X Forcefield Pack
Adds about 5 to AC Adds about __ to AC Adds about __ to AC
With a Mark X pack and good armor, you should be able to see AC ratings in
the 30s. As a practical matter, I don't activate mine until I get into
battle; this saves on the batteries.
o I've heard it claimed they lessened the damage you take on
the electrical traps, but I haven't tried to verify this yet.
> Biochem Jumpsuit -- Extra protection against stuff?? (AC 12)
o This lets you go "swimming" in those green pools that you find in the warrens.
You won't get poisoned. You must be carrying about 1/2 of max or you will
sink to the bottom and lose 1 point per turn. Even if the game says you are
carrying too much, you can still walk (takes about 4-5 keypresses to move 1
square) and get out, and you won't be poisoned.
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> Is a vibra-knife really better than an antique sword?
o A Vibra-knife causes the same damage as the sword, (identical attack point
value) but it is much lighter to carry.
o This is not correct. The sword has a lower weapon class, meaning it
is slightly less likely to hit, but it does do more damage.
> Is a vibra knife better than a macro metal knife? They have the same
weapons class.
o I found it to be a better weapon. Remember that weapon class is not
really a measure of how much damage a weapon does, but a measure of
how likely you are to hit with the weapon.
o The vibro-knife seems to be better at killing things.
> NEEDLES: What are needles for?
o Needles can be loaded into the needler (a weapon).
o A Needler can stick Fangwings (and other flying things) in one location.
> DISCOMBOBULATOR: Anybody find any use for the discombobulator?
o It 'confuses' monsters so that they start attacking other monsters.
Try it on a fangwing or a snagglepuss. I use the discombobulator to kill
shimmering hazes. Just shoot another monster with the discombobulator
and it will start killing the shimmering haze. It is kind of like a
temporary stimmer.
o This appears to work on creatures that have a kind of mind (ie: not icky
lumps or radioactive monsters). It confuses them for a while so you can
just beat them into submission.
> LAWS Rocket
o The LAWS Rocket looked like it would be fantastic when I tried it out outside
the factory and blew half the floor away. I then toted two of them down to
the 16th region (dropping almost everything else to be able to carry them),
but found the walls there were so tough that it didn't do nearly the damage
I had hoped for.
> LANDMINES: Landmines:
o If found that if the landmines are side by side, then when one blows up, it
destroys all adjacent landmines. The adjacent landmines did not appear
to add to the damage points of the exploding landmines, and thus were wasted.
o Thus, I put the mines down in an every other square fashion, and then entice
the dreadnaught to cross the mine field to reach me.
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> How do I find out what a pill does?
o collect several pills. Save your character. Write down ALL your status.
Eat the pills you have. Take notes of on which pills do what including
changes to your HP, constitution, etc. Restore the 'saved' character.
Decide what pills to eat now, save for later, or drop.
o Note that some pills will seem to do nothing. These are likely to be pills
that cure poison, restore hit points, cure illnesses, etc. So, you might hang
onto them and try them will ill, poisoned, low on hit points, and so on.
o A library will tell you what anything is for a price.
> PILLS IN TOXIC WASTE: How do you save your pills when thrown into toxic waste?
o Put the pills in a chest and *close* it.
o Pill of: Affects:
good health +Hit points
invigoration +Constitution
dexterity Cure klutzyness
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> CROWBARS: Always carry a crowbar.
o MT tip for the day: always carry a crowbar. This item can do triple
(or even quadruple) duty. First, in the very early stages of the game,
it may be your best hand to hand weapon. Second, you can carry it
instead of all those crazy keycards and use it to open locked doors and
boxes. Third, you can use it to deactivate traps on boxes. And
finally, you can use it to tear down walls (albeit slowly) - don't use
your main weapon to do this, as tearing down walls dulls weapons quickly.
> STEPLADDER: What in the world is a stepladder good for?
o If there is a hole in the ceiling above you, placing a stepladder under
it greatly improves your chance of success when trying to go up.
o Suppose you have a region with dangerous things by the stairwell. Well,
don't use the stairwell! Go to to a corner of the map. Dig a hole and
go down there. Carry a stepladder and drop it after you get to the new
region to remind you where to go up and to make an escape route.
o The stepladder is ideally suited for moving between floors when you are
heavily encumbered. You can go up or down through holes in the floor
without fear of falling.
> SOFT PILLOW: Has any figured out what to do with the soft pillow?
o This can be used for helping you go down stairs, and for dropping objects
down through holes without fear of doing them harm.
o If you rest on a square that has a soft pillow, you heal faster. This
can be important for minimizing the number of "crackling energy fields"
or "mysterious power drains" during the game. It doesn't seem to help
if you carry the pillow; it's got to be on the floor. I've also only
tried this with "rest soundly" - I assume it works for "rest".
> FLARE: Is there some way to toss a flare so that it illuminates a region?
o Yes. Try throwing it somewhere where it won't land in liquid.
> TRASH CAN: What are the trash can and trash can lid for?
o You can wear the trash can lid for +1 armor protection.
o I use the can as a repository to hold a lot of stuff in one place.
o Try putting something in the can near a utility bot.
> SKULLS:
o I've seen skulls used as weapons by snaglepusses and have heard
mention that it is effective agains other humans (terrorist
collaborators i think)
> TOWELS: Can towels be used to wipe off armor/paint?
o You can wear them for an extra armor point.
o You can wear up to four.
> SECURITY PASSES: How useful are security passes?
o If you are wearing the pass corresponding to the region number
then the CyberCops will not attack you. Wearing it is VERY important.
Just having it in your possession is not enough. When a CyberCop runs into
you on a level you are "badged" for, you may see messages come up like "Thank
you for properly displaying your badge" or "Sir, we are on security alert.
Have you seen any suspicious persons lurking about." Then, of course, a
Snagglepuss sneaks up on you, steals the badge, and the CyberCop turns on you
like last month's milk.
> HOLOCUBES: What are holocubes for?
o The holocubes can be useful for penning up things when they get out of hand.
Especially icky lumps and Zzyts in regions which you've taken a pill of
perception and can see that there's nothing interesting in some area.
o There does not seem to be any way to deactivate them.
o Beware: You may need to get rid of all the Zzyts in region 16.
> FIX/REPAIR: How do you fix: Generator?
o A sonic screwdriver will fix a generator (and many other things too)).
Use the FIX command (tab -F or something like that).
o Try a mech if you dare.
> ODDLY SHAPED COINS: What can the oddly shaped coins be used for?
o Get money for them at the reclamation center.
o throw them at things that collect coins (I only know one thing that this
works for...it is a creature that chortles and giggles a lot)
o the oddly shaped coins are for use in possible future Mission #4, also known
as Mission: BLUEJAUNT. If it ever comes out you may want to have saved
those coins.
> What are the eggs for?
o I have heard that they confuse creatures which are hit by them.
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=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-= The Player -=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-
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> Poisoned?
o If you are at max hit points, often you will survive.
o Try a cure poison pill, or an Auto Doc, or a pill of healing to wait it out.
o Running around improves your chances of surviving poison over standing or
walking.
> Fixing klutzyness?
o Try finding a water fountain and taking a drink.
o Try an AutoDoc or eat a pill of dexterity.
> How do you cure fuzzy Headedness or the spotted disease?
o Fuzzy headedness -- Water fountain.
o Spotted Disease -- pills of restore or improve charisma (glamor).
> PAINT SPLATTERED: Does it matter if you're paint spattered?
o Get a utility 'bot to 'scrub you vigorously'.
o I don't believe it hurts to be splattered, but the chances of your friendly
monster remaining friendly are related to his ability to recognize you.
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=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-= Facilities -=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-
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> MECHS: Can they fix things?
o Sometimes. Sometimes they break them (thus the "oops!" sound).
The robots have a 50/50 (?) chance of fixing things
> UTILITY BOTS: What are they for?
o Why they keep the regions (and player) neat and tidy!
o What's the deal with the group of bots at mid region that aren't activated?
Well, that is formally called a "Utility Closet", and is where
MegaCorp stores it's un-needed Utility 'bots. Kind of on call.
o Can they be activated?
Yep, As with everything else in the game, there is at least a little
logic behind the solutions. In this case, what do those 'bots
typically do? They clean up the place. So ... just toss a
deactivated 'bot a bit of rubbish, and he'll wake up all anxious
to help you do some house cleaning (can be a REAL PAIN at times!)
>Is there anyway to befriend a Cybercop?
o Not that I'm aware of.
> JAUNT TROUPERS: What are Jaunt troupers?
o I get the impression that a jaunt trouper is a player that finished the
game.
o A panic button will occasionally summon several friendly 'jaunt troopers',
who will demolished your enemy. They disappear after about 50 ticks.
o When these friendly jaunt troopers appear via panic button, can they be
killed and disarmed (it's a cruel world)?
Sure ... but let me explain ... Dem's duh good guys, just like you!
Only lots tougher, and VERY busy, so they pop in briefly to lend a
hand, and then jaunt out again. Heavily armed and armored. Sure,
you can attack them to steal their gear, but be ready for a DEADLY
battle if they decide you have turned against the Terran Freedom Forces!!!
o Do you only see the friendly commandos with use of the panic button?
yes, the 'porting in of the JauntTroop Hunter Killer team is directly tied
to the panic button, the state of the current battle, and how injured you
are. You can't really count on them ever coming, but they're
hell on wheels when they arrive!
> JAIL: What do I do when thrown in jail?
o What you do is while your still tied down in a chair, you just hit yourself
against a wall. After a while, the chair will splinter. Then use the rubble
from your chair and throw at the door repeatedly to break the door. Then You
have to find a way out (explore the lower region completely). Don't worry,
in any game you only go there once (you get killed after the first capture).
If it seems like their is no exit, try banging on a wall (with the
appropriate utensil).
o If I ever get thrown in jail, I quit. It's not worth trying to get
out. Once you get thrown in jail, you lose access to your bank account
because "the bank thinks you're dead" and you have to open a new account
with no balance!
> FACILITIES: What facilities are there?
o data port, reclaimation center, library, autodoc, bank,
vending machine, factory outlet, transmat booth.
> RECLAIMATION CENTERS: reclaimation centers
o Dead CyberCops have great resale value at the reclaimation centers.
> FACTORY OUTLET: How does the factory outlet inventory change?
o Who's stocking the machine?
Why ...Sly MegaCorp service personnel ... of course.
o The outlet will restock itself at various times based on various
factors ... including refilling empty slots/shelves. Savy players
learn how to force the machine to restock to give them good turnover
for selection purposes (yet another freebie hint).
What would cause a store to restock its inventory? That's the answer.
o The outlet will close for a time while restocking; you can set the alarm on
the Chronograph (one of the strange devices) to alert you when it reopens.
o So I can expect to find better stuff based on my skill level????
(I see, buy the cheap stuff first)
> VENDING MACHINES: Do vending machines ever get restocked?
o Yes, they get restocked either by happenstance or by design
... and you can cause it to happen.
o An officially designated MegaCorp Service Agent (Mech) can restock the
vending machine before/after it happens to empty. Find one and lead him
to the machine needing servicing.
> BANK: Bank information:
o If you are thrown in jail the bank will think you are dead.
Start a new bank account with a balance of 0.
If you can find a reclamation center, you can live without a working bank.
> BANK: Whats a good way to get a LOT of money (~20,000)?
o Reclamation center. Keep an eye on values. Panic buttons are worth 400 or
so, scrapmetal from the robots is worth quite a bit, machete's are worth 190,
some other things are worth well more than you think they would be. 20,000
will take you a while, though, unless you've been to the lower levels and
have lots of stuff to recycle.
> FLOORS/LEVELS: Just how many regions are there?
o There are 30 floors in each MTB complex. 16 main regions, followed by
2 detention regions. There are ? warren regions.
The 2 detention regions are below the the 16th floor.
The LAMB is on the 16th region.
> STAIRWELL: Blocked stairwell?
o Stand over stairwell. Activate grenade. Drop grenade. End Problem.
> TRAPS: Floor barriers: Can you get by them?
o One can fix, or rather unfix some of them.
> GRAVITY WELL: How do you get out of gravity wells?
o Try dropping everything. If nothing (other than yourself) is currently
on the floor over the gravity well, drop something useless there first,
so that some useful item doesn't end up trapped over it. After you've
dropped everything, you should be able to get away.
o give it the "sonic" screwdriver treatment.
o dig through it (if it is a diggable square).
o use your panic button (if you are in region 1-15).
o Activating a gravbelt will not work.
o Disable the trap with a sharp edged object (very expensive in terms
of hit points - it can easily suck up 50+ hp.
o Rocks thrown at Gravity well's will fall different.
> FOUNTAINS: What do the water fountains do?
o If you drink from them, they will cure the "fuzzy headedness" you get from
eating most monster corpses.
o They may cure klutzyness. (or try a pill of dexterity or an autodoc)
o You can fill certain things (milk cartons, but not beer cans, apparently),
and use it (the water-filled object) as a weapon against the various robots.
A milk carton, however, isn't enough to even kill a widget. Maybe a trash can
> TOXIC WASTE: Toxic Waste
o Did you know that it's possible to build a walkway over the toxic lakes if
you repeatedly dump rubble (or possibly other junk) into them. If you're
lacking rubble, use you pick axe to make some. It takes A LOT of rubble to
fill one pool square.
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=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-= Message Meanings -=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-
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> MESSAGE: You hear a sudden crackling of energy
o An energy storm breaks loose in this region. Everything within it
gets severely damaged or destroyed (including walls).
> MESSAGE: You feel a sudden power drain on your equipment
o All your items which carry charges are reduced in charge by one.
Includes power cells, light globes, lasers, stimmer, panic button, ...
> MESSAGE: The air is briefly electrified by strange forces
> MESSAGE: You aren't feeling very well.
o Carrying any rags with you? Drop 'em.
> MESSAGE: Problem reading cache. Then the program bombs.
o I'm not sure, but try saving more often. The program creates cache files
for each level you move into and it needs a LOT of extra hard disk space.
Saved files reach over 1 Mb and you need about 200K over that.
o A message from Dave Scheifler, author of Mission Thunderbolt:
If you are having "cache" problems or seeing crashs with Mission Thunderbolt,
and have a version earlier than v1.0.5, then we suggest you contact Casady &
Greene (the publisher) for an update.
Prior to v1.0.5 there were bugs that could cause the kind of difficulties and
crashes that some of you folks have encountered. A major cause was incorrect
usage of string pointers by the creature naming feature, which could in turn
potentially result in data corruption in the character file. Hence it is
recommended that players with pre-1.0.5 versions avoid giving names to
creatures and acquire an update before using that feature. To determine
your specific version, click on the Thunderbolt application file to highlight
it, then from the File menubar entry select Get Info.
Please contact Casady & Greene directly for details on how to acquire a
product update. They can be reached at 408-484-9228.
If you are having caching problems or seeing crashes with v1.0.5 or later,
then we would be interested in receiving a copy of your saved character for
analysis; it will help in identifying the source of the problem and enable us
to issue an appropriate update. Please send it to the address given below,
together with a description of the problem and suggestions on how to
reproduce it.
Lastly, v1.0.5 and later releases contain special code to automatically scan
older characters when they are invoke, and effect repairs as needed. If you
have a damaged character that v1.0.5 (et al) is unable to repair, or if you
have (or think you have) a damaged character and would like it fixed in
advance of receiving an update from C&G, then we will be happy to make
appropriate repairs for you here at MegaCorp and return the data files to you.
Disks with saved games (character file with its folder of companion files)
can be mailed to the following address. Saved characters/folders can also
be compressed and sent as binary mail on CompuServe or America OnLine by
folks who have access to those services.
Dave Scheifler AOL: MEGACORP CompuServe: 71441,2065
MegaCorp International, Inc.
251 West Central Street, Suite 182
Natick, MA 01760-3758
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=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-= Favorite Hacks -=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-
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> Creating your own pocket-nukes
o Try activating five grenades, putting them in a small chest (leave the lid
open) and throwing the chest at something. By the way, 2 back to back hits
with these 'pocket-nukes' did NOT take out a Dreadnought, nor did four
consecutive (preloaded) gyrojet scattergun blasts.
> what is the favorite hack people have encountered ?
o fill an empty milk carton with industrial waste fluids ...
use it as a hurled weapon ... or dump it on a trap ...
> How do I collect money?
o Take spare items to a reclaimation center.
o See ICKY LUMP FARMING: What is "Icky Lump Farming"?
> Using Warrens as shortcuts:
o Some warrens have holes not only to the region you cam from, but also to
another region. At times, that region can be 5 or 6 regions away. This
may be a good shortcut and also cut down on security alerts.
o To facilitate this, when I am not strong enough to survive a warren for long,
I stick my head up and back down, thus "marking" the warren, so I recognize
it when I get to it later.
> What is your favorite collection of things to carry/general hints?
o After beating Thunderbolt for the 6th time as a level 26 JauntTrooper with
10,938,865 points I have some observations and questions on the game. In
respect to weapons I usually carry a vibraknife, laser rifle & blaster
rifle. Armor consists of Mark X forcefield pack, macrometal jacket and
helmet. Misc. items; plenty of batteries, healing pills, sonic screwdriver,
jaunt box. I have found that pills of perception used on lower levels make
it very easy to dematerialize, lockon a location, materialize, get an item,
and split again to safety. Jumping between transmat booths to reclamation
centers provides large sums of money available at the ATMs. Saving pills of
learning till you get to the higher levels is great for advancement at the
end when you need all the hitpoints possible.
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=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-= General Hints =-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-
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>General Hints/poison
o Always keep you hit points as close to their maximum as possible.
Don't wander around with low hit points.
o If you're poisoned, and have maximum or near maximum hit points, you'll
probably survive poisoning. It will often wear off before you reach zero
hit points.
o Pills of healing will often boost low hit points long enough for the poison
to wear off.
o There are pills that will cure poisoning.
> Hints on saving the game
o Once you are near winning in region 16, save the game in several different
files. I get the impression that once the LAMB is found, you cannot save
the game. Also, once you complete the game, your character cannot reenter
the game. (I wanted to go back and look at the warrens.)
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=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-= Cheats -=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-
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> How do I improve my statistics in Mission Thunderbolt?
o Open your save game (the file named after your character) and edit the DATA
fork (as in use something other than ResEdit). About 8 bytes after the end
of your characters name (which will begin about 3 bytes after "Captain
Hazard", your statistics will start. They are NOT word aligned, so pay
close attention. Each statistic, except for speed, is repeated in Hex form
twice. I don't know the ordering, but I would guess that one byte is for the
maximum and one is for the current value. If this assumption holds then
nothing should be able to "semi-permanently" reduce your speed.
From: s178@cs.utexas.edu (Billy Harris)
o For file editing, one needs to have a file editor, naturally. The personal
attributes of the character are stored in the beginning of the file in
hexadecimal form. All but speed are duplicated and stored in two bytes:
i.e., Str 21, Dex 22, Spd 23 and Con 24 will be: 1515 1616 1718 18.
Level, total armor class, total weapon class and hit points are tricker
and requires experimentation. But they are definitely stored before the
attributes. Bank savings is found by performing a search for the amount in
hexadecimal form.
From: "POU LEE: THE MUG@UH FELLOW"
> What about editing items?
o Concerning items editing, I have not really look into it. The reason is I
usually can get the items I want by another file management trick: before
going into a cavern, save the game. Then go on in, look around for randomly
generated items that are preset to be present in that specific cavern, if none
of them interests me, abort and try again. Again, with patience, I can usually
get nice items in the first cavern that I venture into.
From: "POU LEE: THE MUG@UH FELLOW"
> What is the finder file management trick?
o The finder file management trick is as follows:
First make a copy of just the character file to another folder (that is, not
the character folder). Start the game from your normal location. Drop
whatever you want to duplicate or mass-produce on the floor. Quit the game.
Take the copy of the character file that you made and replace your character
file. When one starts the game, on the floor will still be the items you
have previously discarded, at the same time, copies of them also are still
present in the character's inventory. Voila. As long as one has the
patience, one may duplicate/mass produce items that one has found. Usually
I switch to black&white to expedite the process.
From: "POU LEE: THE MUG@UH FELLOW"
> Is there any way to kill the copy protection on Mission Thunderbolt?
o CODE $000B+280C
find: 67F6
replace: 60F6
This will allow you to just hit return instead of typing in the passkeys.
o For version 1.02: It totally eliminates the dialog box.
Just change CODE 4, offset 711C from 4E56 to 4E75.
> What about invulnerability?
o For invulnerability, change CODE $001F+592C to 4E71 4E71
o Another person's invulnerability patch for v 1.02:
CODE segment 31, offset 56E4: change from 9F6D D312 to 4E71 4E71
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=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-= Using Less Disk Space =-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-
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From: derek@netcom.com (Derek LeLash)
To slim down your copy of Thunderbolt, you can use ResEdit to remove the
picture resources that you won't use. For example, if you're running it on
a black & white machine, you can remove the 16- and 256- color graphics.
To do this, open each of the Resource files in the MTB folder and cut or
clear the PICT resources as follows:
1-bit (B/W) resources number ends with 1 or 2
4-bit (16 color) resources number ends with 4 or 5
8-bit (256 color) resources number ends with 8 or 9
As you'll notice, the resource files contain 3 copies of each item, at different
bit depths. The game will run fine if you remove the pictures for 2 of the 3
depths.
(Standard ResEdit warning: work only on copies of your files! Also, don't
fire up the game with your best character right away, until you're sure things
are running okay.)
I'm not sure what happens if you try to run the game at a bit depth for which
pictures are not available... so, for now, don't do it! And remember that
you've modified the files; if you trade up to a different Mac, you should
reinstall the game from the master disks.
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( ___ )-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-( ___ )
|___| jdsb@ee.egr.duke.edu Please email corrections. |___|
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Amazing Games. Many Cheats. Such Wow.
